runnin on no oil :(

[TheSummoner101]

well this is not a 3rd gen related question, but i think it would be a similar answer.

well my friend, didn't realize it and was running his car with low/no oil for about 2 months or so (dont know exactly, but some where in that time range) and so his car is messed up bad.

he had a mechanic check it out, and was told that the "lifters" are messed up. my question is, how much would it cost to repair? is it something that a person can do himself with like a rebuild kit? thanx for all of the help in advance.

some general info: its a 6 cylinder grand am, 96, with about 110k miles.

edit: he got an estimate of 1k$ does that sound right?

[88Accord-DX]

oops *hit wrong button* edit is to close to reply

[88Accord-DX]

[QUOTE=ddude2uc]There isn't no re-built kit for that, you would have to pull the heads off and re-place the lifters. That is some pretty serious engine work, unless you know what your doing, go for it. If that was my car, I would have the heads re-build & get some new pushrods & timing belt or chain while I had the motor broke down that far. There are gaskets to re-place too. (head, valve, manifold, etc) I would guess about $500, a grand is little steep, but I wouldn't doubt that someone would charge that.

He needs to find out if he is losing oil out of a gasket or he is burning it.

[steven]

damn no oil, aint there a light for that kind of thing, i think its called a "dummy light"

[AccordEpicenter]

oil light only comes on when there is no oil pressure, low oil is almost as bad, plus i wouldnt trust the light to work anyway, its in a pontiac. It depends how bad the engine is messed up. Ive seen kids run 3.1s just about out of oil and then theyre ok... but if serious damage has been done... who knows

[Blkblurr]

The engine is most likely trash. If you've done damage to the lifters, you will most likely have damage to all moving parts in your engine. Cams, crank shaft, bearings etc. It might be cheaper to drop a new engine in. Your oil pump may be bad as well cause it needs lube too.

[TheSummoner101]

we'll he's gonna go get estimates from different mechanics, so that he doesn't get screwed. first we'll find out how much the damage is, then see about how to get it fixed.

thanx for all the help guys.

[accordlxi2.0]

since it's a 96 in has a oil sensor in the pan to let the person know that it's low on oil....

[buds302]

oil light only comes on when there is no oil pressure, low oil is almost as bad, plus i wouldnt trust the light to work anyway, its in a pontiac. It depends how bad the engine is messed up. Ive seen kids run 3.1s just about out of oil and then theyre ok... but if serious damage has been done... who knows

i bont know about pontiacs or any gm engine. but in my accord i had an oil leak and if i went around a corner too fast the oil would slosh in the pan and the oil light would start flashin. thats when i knew when to put oil in it. it never hurt anything though. but it wasnt enough oil every time i got gas in order to put oil in it.

[88Accord-DX]

One last thing. I've worked on several cars that have ran w/o oil. The lifters are one of the first things that go out,(on motors w/o overhead cams) he better be glad his engine didn't lock up! Anyhow, have him get a compression check done before he goes all out on a lifter job done. I agree on some ealier comments on having a junkyard engine put in, but if he had got a quote a $1000 for lifter job, try double that and then some for a mechanic to put one in. The compression check will tell if the rings are shot, hopefully the rod bearings and crankshaft bearings are ok, including the vavles. There is 60/40 chance it is worth keeping the motor.

[smufguy]

well when my dad was running his old tercel without oil, it just froze on him, like literally froze on him and just gave up. It was much easier and cheaper to get a whole new block with equal or less milage rather than try to find all the problems and fix it.

So your solution, find a good non-oil-drinking motor and swap it in.